Sunday, 2 November 2008

Arsenal have LOST their fear factor

There was a time when teams facing Arsenal were beaten in the tunnel before the game. Sides looked at the imposing Arsenal line-up and didn't fancy it, they just wanted to keep the score down.

Unfortunately these times don't exist anymore. We are seen as the soft touch of the top four, the side that can be bullied and harassed into submission.

I mean no disrespect to any team I mention here, but any side with title aspirations should not be getting beaten by the likes of Fulham, Hull City and Stoke City, not just being beaten though, but deservedly beaten.

These sides show no fear when they play Arsenal, they know they can get something from the game if they persevere.

Chelsea and Manchester United beat sides before they even step onto the pitch. Teams know that anything from a game against either of these two is a bonus, they feel confident of gaining something against Arsenal.

Arsenal used to have an air of invincibility about them but now there is an air of venerability surrounding them. We don't strike fear into the opposition anymore and that hurts.

30 comments:

Anonymous
said...

You are very correct about that , i have always said that buying and developing youths has a side effect of giving the opposition the opportunity to study and not be afraid of those players over time , hence the overall team ends up losing the fear factor cus they would have played with opposition teams while they were still develloping.I really think supporters and fans need to stage a protest against the way the club is run and the direction its being going towards for the past few years.I hate to admit it , but i think Mourinho was right after all when he said Wenger is no under any pressure to deliver trophies.For goodness sake Mourinho was sacked despite winning at least 4 trophies and Wenger was never able to beat him...says a lot if u think about it.Also i think the fans need to boycott at least one match and not pay for the ticket for the match so the board would know and feel it where it pinches ..cus i feel the board doesn't give a damn so long as they keep making money from the fans...Arsene Wenger is a golden goose for the board who lays the golden egg...as such it would be crazy of them to sack him...cus they would not be able to find another manager that can spend less and less amount of money every season.

Teams dont fear us anymore. we have one strength, to pass the ball, every other aspect of our game is weak and teams are exploiting it every game. weve been worked out and passing alone cant win you games if you can defend tackle or shoot.

this is big news every one knows that if you get very phsycal and give them no space or time they find it more diddicult i would say that arsenal cannot handle that its just right now there are without dm player and there central defender are two small not very dominating and dont have huge physical presence,they do neeed at least dm player

All this talk about gunning for Wenger is just plain stupid emotions talking. Being an immensly proud man, I'm certain he feels the sting of his underachieving players more than we do. Flamini (Arsenal's best player last season) was not given due credit for the way we played. He emerged as the leader on the pitch (credit to his study under Vieira). Wenger must have anticipated someone else to assume this position in the absense of Flamini. At the start of the season, Fabregas' fatigue was attributed to his late start for preseason; 10 games in and he still plays tired. With all the talk of wanting to lead and win? I expected him to be lighting a fire under his colleagues' arses whenever they show cmplacency, not needing one lit under his backside. A new recruit will only pour 'paint over the crack'. It will be too soon to take control of the side given how difficult it often is for established team members to listen to the new guy.Yaya Toure is not a leader at Barcelona. The main stays (like Xavi, Puyol and Marquez) are. My only gripe with Wenger is that he continues to defend this current crews' pertulence (as exhibited by Van Persie) and arrogance. It's about time the right players are held accountable (not Eboue and Denilson). It's about time they realise that being in the top four is not a priveledge, but a right you fight for with every season. Only then can we talk about winning the Premiership.

On the bright side all the ‘Arsene knows’ brigade have crawled back under their stones.

For the last few years I thought we exceeded expectations, but the bubble had to burst sooner or later with Wenger selling our players then saying how close we are becoming to being ready. Why does he not realise that while we weaken each year the other teams are strengthening?

Funny how its November and I’m feeling that 4th would be an amazing achievement.I’ll stick my neck out and say that its time for Wenger to move on. I have no idea who would replace him, but we need someone who wants to manage a team and not conduct his own personal youth experiment.

i SAY you're partly wrong. Those teams fear us, thats why they clog their defence. If they didn't fear us, then they would have played attacking football, and we would easily win. The reason why We can score 5 at Fenerbahce and might just as easily beat ManU this Saturday, is because those teams will not throw bodies in defence. Yes, the fear factor has just just waned, but it's still there. I also don't see the fuss when we're only 6 points adrift of the top.

wrighty ive been a regular visitor of ure blog and have found it entertaining, informative and most of all goonerish..but i can't agree with ure recent blogs..no im not an AKB but ffs to say teams don't fear us any more that's going too far..maybe our defense is not the most frightening but teams do fear us otherwise why would there be 2 lines of defense against us always..i did not see the stoke game so i can't comment on that but how much football has been played against us?.. not much..i agree theres not much steel in the team right now and we do need to invest but a DM and CB will not give us steel..physical strength yes, heart no.. that will come from within the team..last season fab flam gallas(for most of the season)gael and ade showed the most grit..flamini left but the rest are still there and nasri though new is playing with determination..if the fans and the players stop believing in arsenal then we can truly kiss any silverware goodbye for the next 3 years

Absolutely, we need new players. Unfortunately it took us years to get into this mess, it will likely take years to get out. If Wenger doesn't but in Jan we're done in top 4. We had three losses all last year, now it's beginning of Nov and already three lost. To say Wenger tried to buy over the summer is an insult to intelligence. To say he can't be replaced - there is an old french adage "The graveyard is littered with indispensible men"(Wenger is far from indispensable) And as far as the youth experiment goes - how many results do you need? How many seasons must be thrown away? Five more? Last time I checked these kids ain't even trying to win!

Wrighty, congrats, we got found out at fulham, where have you been. Opposition gets in our face and we wilt. We are now a team of over-paid, over-rated girls. In fact I'm switching my allegiance to the arsenal womens team, at least they make a decent effort.